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NBC gets Ky. Derby rights
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October 4, 1999: 2:29 p.m. ET
Beats out ABC to secure 5-year pact for Triple Crown horse races
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - NBC may have lost out on the pigskin, but it's about to let the horse hair fly.
NBC Sports and Triple Crown Productions said Monday they are entering into a five-year contract, beginning in 2001, that gives the network the exclusive American broadcast rights to thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown -- the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
NBC already owns the broadcast rights for the sport's other premium event, the Breeders Cup championship races in November.
According to the Associated Press, NBC far outbid its rivals ABC and CBS. The contract is worth a reported $51.5 million; ABC -- which has broadcast all three Triple Crown events since 1987 and the Derby since 1975 -- bid a reported $35 million to retain the broadcast rights. CBS, meanwhile, offered a reported $28 million.
In January 1998 NBC lost out to ABC and CBS for the rights to air National Football League games, marking the first time in 33 years that the Peacock Network would not broadcast the sport.
"We have defined ourselves by our unprecedented lineup of major championship events, and today we are enhancing that roster," NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said in a statement. "Adding the Triple Crown to the Breeders Cup gives us unique promotional opportunities for our telecasts and for the sport."
The Visa credit card association is the title sponsor of the Triple Crown events. That relationship, together with NBC's media contract, "will provide each of the three tracks substantial increases in rights fees over the life of the contract," Triple Crown Production President Thomas Meeker said.
The Kentucky Derby is owned and operated by the Louisville, Ky.-based Churchill Downs Inc. (CHDN), the Preakness belongs to The Maryland Jockey Club of Baltimore, and the Belmont Stakes is owned and run by the New York Racing Association. The races are run within a five-week period in May and June.
Shares in General Electric (GE), the parent company of NBC Sports, were up 1-9/16 at 118-15/16 in early Monday afternoon trading. Stock in Churchill Downs, meanwhile, fell 2-1/2 to 20-13/16.
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